#it may not look like it but this was actually meant to be

[scruckels]

HOW STEB COMMUNICATES!

And... that's kinda it. A deep dive into how Steb communicates but I fight to stay on topic the longer you read.

NOTE: I gave this whole post a hazy and blurry zonked glance while muttering to myself before pressing post. There may be some spelling mistakes / incorrect wording.

Question by this person, but I was too lazy to make a separate post since I already had a draft similar to this question saved. I LOVE YOU CORACOOKIECRUMBLE!!! 😁😁😁😁⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️🗣🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯

There aren't many scenes of Steb trying to communicate with someone, so it's difficult to say for sure how he communicates, but I think I have a pretty decent idea.

IN THE VIDEO BELOW

You see Steb with Maddie. This is the only scene really showing how they talk to one another, and the situtiain is tense, so it's hard to say how he communicates in more relaxed situations. In this scene, Steb communicates with her that he's ready by grunting, to which she understands.

IN THE GIF BELOW

Once again, in a tense situation, Steb makes some noise to communicate. This time, he speaks. Not only does he speak, but he also motions for everyone to follow him. With that being said, this proves that Steb CAN talk. He just doesn't want to.

This is not the only time Steb uses body language to communicate.

IN THE GIF BELOW

Steb cocks his head to the side, signaling to Maddie that they should go, as well as walking away with her once they're called.

IN THE TWO GIFS BELOW

Steb uses some hand and arm motions to signal to others. In the first one, he signals to Caitlyn to fall back, being that he had planted the bomb. In the second GIF, he signals for the enforces to turn off the beacons, since there didn't appear to be anyone coming to help fight.

IN THESE TWO GIFS BELOW

Steb grabs Mel to help her up, and in the second GIF, he grabs up the other guy to detain him. (I don't know if he has a name, and im too tired to look for one.)

Steb doesn't say anything prior to touching them, but the situations are also something to consider. Steb has his hands out to both of them, catching their attention just before actually putting his hands on them. Whether or not it's intentionally meant to be a signal, it's still something he does.

With these situations, it's hard to say EXACTLY how he is when using physical contact to communicate, but it'd say it isn't something he does often. He grabs Mel because it's an emergency, and he needs to make sure she's alright and out of there as soon as possible. He grabs the guy to detain him, following Caitlyn's orders and arresting him. Every time he touches someone (on screen), it's not really to communicate, and more so to assist / do his job.

CONCLUSION AND ANSWERS:

Is Steb mute?

No.

Is he selectively mute?

It seems most likely........? (Considering the information we have, at least.)

That being said, if he IS selectively mute, he may be open to speaking more frequently with someone close to him. Maybe even if it's just a little bit. (Short sentences, short answers, quiet speaking voice, murmuring, ect.) I can speak more on this at the end of this post for the people who wanna read about it.

Do I think he uses sign language? No. I really doubt it. He communicates both intentionally and unintentionally with small gestures, body language, and expression. He might use some type of hand signs occasionally? Not sign language itself, but just hand gestures that give you a vague idea of what he wants. For example, maybe you'll ask him why he's out somewhere, and he'll tug on the fabric of his enforcer uniform, signaling he's there for work. You'll ask why he's looking at you, and he'll point to his face as reference to your own, signaling that you have something on you and showing where it is.

Again, there's isn't enough Information to be 100% certain, but I feel like my conclusion is relatively sound.

Extra yap you were previously warned about:

I can talk more about selective mutism in another post for the people interested. Keep in mind, I'm NOT a professional. I'm autstic and I'm just nerdy about this. I don't wanna dump a whole bunch of information that is not at least 87% Steb related in this post, so I'm gonna say this next part like I'm one of those youtubers who has an audience of 5 year olds and makes those 3 am challenge videos cause it's funny.

GUYS, IF WE CAN GET AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE TO COMMENT THAT THEY WANNA HEAR ABOUT SELECTIVE MUTISM IN ANOTHER POST, ILL MAKE A POST ABOUT SELECTIVE MUTISM AND HOW STEB WOULD MOST LIKELY BEHAVE OFF SCREEN IF HE HAS IT!! DONT FORGET TO SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON, SUBSCRIBE, AND TURN ON THE NOTIFICATIONS BELL!!

I LOVE YOU STEB NATION!!! 🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥💯💯💯💯💯❗️❗️❗️❗️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️🙏🙏🙏🙏

[shiningmystic]

Hello loves and welcome to your blessings in 2025. This year was a mess for me so I know it's been a mess for many many people. Let's look forward to the new year and see what is on its way to you! I am an energy reader and usually only base off your future from this current moment in time. let me know what you think and comeback to this reading to let me know if your blessing reached you!

*This reading is meant to be very concise and undetailed because the future is fluid. Believe in change and change will come. Always take one step forward and remind yourself there is always better things ahead; you got this. Don't be afraid to pick more than one if you feel more calling to you; love ya <3

First Snowflake: Three of wands, six of cups, the sun

I see a lot of overcoming in your future and new bonds being forged. I see the past being let go and reconciled related to relationships and love. There is a glow up of confidence in yourself and a wave of luck and clarity. I also must mention when the three of wands fell out, I saw the wheel of fortune in my mind, so I see a very lucky year for you. Goodluck and keep moving forward with trust. Right now, it may be foggy, and you may feel low but there is always another day that will bring you peace from the madness I assure you on this.

Second Snowflake: Ace of wands, Knight of pentacles, Eight of swords

I see the blessings coming to you is related to an idea, a project or even a small business/something related to work. I do feel for many that there is a lot of anxiety around work and money even in the future but there is a growth in wealth here, a change. I will not pretend that I do not see anxieties still bothering you in 2025 but I see it lifting slowly as you keep pushing and pursuing your ideas and finding your path. Feel confident in your creations and beautiful things you bring from the heavens even if it's a small practical invention or a painting. Remember, even if the first idea doesn't hit the ground running eventually one of them will.

Third Snowflake: Knight of Swords, Ace of cups (rx), Ace of swords

I see a close call, a breaking away from a bond that does not feel like closeness anymore. A call and a decision being made to break ties with the things that aren't for you anymore. I see that you will learn that making this choice will free you of these tight bonds/ weights on your shoulders. I believe you will learn how to stand tall in these moments of confusion and even if it is a hard choice, you make it for yourself and know that it is the most selfless choice for both parties if that resonates. Believe in the signs and messages, your intuition will actually align with your logic, and this will surprise you in 2025. Remember, memories of past emotions can still be lovely, but things are not the same anymore. Take pride in your power and move forward with gusto.

Fourth Snowflake: King of wands, King of coins (rx), The Magician

I see a transformation and learning of your power, seems to me we all need a little bit of confidence, and this will come for you in 2025. I see a growth in perception of yourself on a spiritual and physical level and someone supporting you on this journey. For others you are learning about yourself in the best way and bringing in wealth and trust even if it may not be enough at times, I see things working out with what you manifest into your future. Be open to learning new things even if you aren't the best at it, this will bring you more perspective and clarity on what you need. So, expect some manifestations to appear and be open to many more to come.

Fifth Snowflake: The high priestess (rx), Three of swords, The world (rx), Knight of pentacles

I got an instant message of "the revealing of what has been holding you back" this message seems to be a blessing in disguised because it is a hard truth you may come to face. Sometimes hard things in life actually lead to happier outcomes that show you your capability and strength after it is over. In 2025 there will be hard moments but let's be real, true change is painful and so the blessings for you is the "right change" that will lead you on a physical path to a better future. The change will teach you a lot about the physical world either that be about job, finances, your health or even just about the general world. Do not worry over the details just know that this change will make you so much happier for years to come. long term happiness is the goal not short-term highs.

Sixth Snowflakes: The high priestess, Two of swords, Five of wands (rx)

For you, my last snowflake, I see you making a choice to a hard situation and a peaceful outcome on a choice that has been weighing on you heavily. I see much doubt and confusion on your capability or even just not having all the facts to make a comfortable choice, but clarity will be a blessing this coming 2025. A peaceful resolution to this choice that you cannot avoid anymore. The high priestess also indicates more blessings, but I can also see that these are hidden from me because there are many and meant to be discovered by you the reader. Just keep heading forward and know there is always a way out and always another choice we may not be able to see when we are in the thick of it. Trust in yourself and your blessings will surely come.

Tarot decks used: Tarot of the divine by Yoshi Yoshitani

[cinnamanz]

# DARLING, I — chapter thirty-one!

when new york city’s widely-known spider-woman's life becomes unknowingly entwined with a member of the rising global girl group katseye, she learns that juggling superhero duties, university, and a sudden crush may or may not just be the downfall of her. but hey, at least she's helping people, right?

ONE HELL OF A DATE

“wake up, sleepyhead.” 

startled at the water yunjin splashed over her face and soaking her shirt, y/n sat up on the bed all bleary-eyed, all while the other crossed her room and cranked open her blinds harshly, earning a displeased hiss from y/n.

“yunjin, what the absolute fuck do you think you’re doing?” y/n grumbles out, voice raspy from the lack of use from the following hours of being in a deep slumber, running a hand over her hair and down her face, an exasperated sigh leaving her lips.

“getting you ready for your date with ms. bannerman, of course.” like clockwork, y/n’s body winds up like a toy as she attempts to get out of bed, sheets bunched around her ankles and restricting her movement as she stands up, crashing down onto the floor with a loud groan and a thud.

yunjin clicked her tongue at the sight. “see, that’s what i’m talking about. you’re a mess. you can't go on a date with manon like this."

sitting up on the floor with her sheets strewn across the floorboards, y/n sighs deeply. “help me.”

“dani, is this one better?”

manon picks out another article of clothing from her closet with a grimace, holding it up for the other to see, watching as daniela shook her head from the bed. “too revealing.”

the ghanaian nodded in response, sighing as she continued to sift through her closet, brows furrowed in focus as she struggled to find the perfect outfit for her date. “at this point, i might just ransack someone else’s closet.”

daniela chuckles at manon’s words, enjoying the sight of the other woman almost go mad from her indecisiveness, lips pressing together in an amused smile. “manon, you literally can’t go wrong with your outfits. really, i think you’re overthinking this. i’m sure y/n would love whatever you have on, as long as you’re there.”

manon turned around with raised brows, looking at the cuban woman in contemplation. “okay, so you’re saying i could wear a garbage bag to the date and y/n would love it? just say you hate me.”

"you know that's not what i meant." a defeated sigh left daniela’s lips at the older’s words, the door of their bedroom creaking open as lara and yoonchae trickled in, obviously checking up to see how manon was faring.

“oh, girl…”

waiting outside the designated restaurant, y/n stood there awkwardly and fiddled with the sleeves of her dress shirt, suddenly feeling waves of nervousness and insecurity over what she was wearing, a stark difference to the usual baggy clothes she’d wear. the formality of the situation presses down on her chest and restricts her breathing, a shaky hand coming up to undo the third button while the other hand clutches onto the neatly-made bouquet.

“y/n?”

a honeyed tone was a welcomed distraction from the current circumstances, neck whipping to meet eyes with manon who wore a black, backless dress that was topped off by a fur jacket, breath hitching as words and thoughts jumbled against one another, tongue-tied at the beauty who smiled sweetly in front of her. 

looking like a deer caught in headlights, y/n brings her in for a quick hug, albeit awkward and sudden, it pulled a laugh from the ghanaian’s throat who eagerly returned the hug, catching a whiff of the taller’s perfume who shot her a meek smile. “uh, for you.”

just like the first time they’d met, y/n hands her a beautifully wrapped bouquet of sunflowers, running her clammy hands down her pants and offering an arm out for her. “shall we go in, my lady?” y/n murmured in an exaggerated british accent, pulling another one of those beautiful giggles from manon’s lips. 

“indeed we shall, my dearest one."

“it’s actually so impressive how you took the first-ever spider-woman photo.” manon’s words cause a chuckle to tumble past y/n’s lips, glancing down at the woman who had her arm hooked around hers as the two of them strolled around nyc, deciding to take a breath of fresh air before calling it a night.

“really?”

“really!”

“i’m surprised you even knew about that. most people don’t really pay attention to details like that.” y/n murmured, watching as a group of tipsy tourists stumbled down the street in a struggle, before continuing with her words. “not like i’m known for it, too.”

“mm, well…” the ghanaian struggled to form a sentence that didn’t necessarily expose her love for the mentioned webslinger in a spandex, lips pressing into a thin line. “i read about it somewhere.”

y/n hummed, feeling the shorter woman’s grip on her arm tighten, following her line of sight where a wasted new yorker was stumbling around, a bottle of beer in his hand as he crashed onto a nearby car, setting off the alarm with the impact, sending him bumping into a trash can. any other day, the scene would’ve been a usual occurrence in nyc, but when he locks eyes with manon’s figure beside you, your spidey senses tingle just a bit. 

“hey, maybe we should cross the street.” more than eager to comply, manon’s already tugging y/n across the street, the drunk following suit. “is he seriously following us?”

manon nodded silently, not daring to look back as she pulled y/n closer, the latter turning her head to assess the man who was now following her. “just stay close, alright?”

before manon could respond, the man’s voice rang out in the street. “hey, ladies!” his voice, all hoarse and slurred from the alcohol made the two women’s skin prickle from goosebumps as they continued to ignore and walk down the street. “hey, i’m talking to you.”

eventually annoyed at the lack of attention given his way, he furiously threw his bottle of beer towards the pair, y/n’s spidey senses ringing alarm bells as she pulled manon close to her chest and moved them out of the way in record time, bottle disintegrating into pieces and spreading out on the concrete floor with a deafening crash in the silence of the night. 

eyes wide and panicked, manon clutched onto y/n's shirt tightly, fabric crumping beneath her hold as sunflowers squished between their bodies, y/n turning to face the man. shielding manon from his sight, y/n licks her lips. “get lost, asshole.” the commentary easily slipped under the man’s skin, parting his lips to respond when y/n hoisted manon over her shoulder and sprinted down the street, eliciting a squeal from the latter and leaving a dumbfounded drunk. 

and as she ran down the streets, the only thought present in her mind as she carried manon was, ‘this’ll be one hell of a story to tell our children one day'.

masterlist 🕸️🕷✮⋆˙ next

taglist : @d1spact @yeetaberry127 @urmom2314 @lararajjj @artrizzler19 @ninguitar @ohmyhaely @firstclassjaylee @meganskiendielsbtc @sed7ction @modanisgf @vrtualstar @ssamlovr @grahstumhurts @sixflame438 @fearnotfearmore @c-yerim @taikabui @saturn-projector @uchinagai @goofymickeyr TAGLIST OPEN!

[merrybloomwrites]

It's Just a Game, But Really

Summary: When your brother starts dating Taylor Swift, you figure your wild dreams of dating Harry Styles are now definitely crushed. But some meddling from Jason, Travis, and Taylor may make some dreams come true after all.

Word Count: 3K

AN: This idea randomly popped into my head months ago and I couldn't get it out until I fully wrote it. I feel like this falls into the category of "Crack treated seriously" lol

Also, I understand this is niche, but as an Eagles fan (pls don't come for me) I've watched the entire Travis/Taylor relationship unfold and just thought this would be silly. Writing Jason and Travis was pretty fun too since I've been listening to their podcast for years and it was a cool challenge to write in their voices

Finally, I took creative liberty here and while I normally try to keep details as close to reality as possible, I've changed some things. So the Packers vs Eagles game that happened in Brazil now takes place in philly, and the Chiefs game on Christmas is now against Baltimore so it would be plausible to have the dinner scene in PA. None of this actually matters, this is fiction lol

Title from "So High School" by Taylor Swift

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Growing up with two athletic brothers had been quite an experience. Hundreds of hours were spent at sporting events, often bundled up to watch them play ice hockey or attend the late season football games. In your family, it was important that everyone supported each other.

It went the other way as well. Your brothers attended every spring concert, theater performance, and dance recital you were in. They were your biggest fans, always cheering you on and bringing flowers to give you.

They also took time to learn about your interests. Instead of getting annoyed when Taylor Swift’s music would play through the house, they started listening.

Especially Travis.

He liked the music, and thought she seemed pretty cool. He didn’t admit it, but you guessed that maybe he had a bit of a celebrity crush on her.

Life continued to change as your brothers left for college, then moved to different cities when they got signed to two different NFL teams. You missed them, but it was great seeing them succeed.

Jason and Travis still made time for family, even when Jason got married and started a family of his own. You and Kylie became friends right away, and you immediately loved having another girl in the family. You couldn’t wait for it to be Travis’s turn to find someone. But preferably not through his dating show.

When Taylor Swift announced her Eras Tour, you desperately wanted to go. So you were highly disappointed when you weren’t able to get tickets.

And then Travis surprised you with tickets to her show in Kansas City. By this point you had moved in with Jason and Kylie near Philly, but Travis assured you that he’d take care of all the travel logistics to get you to the concert.

You flew in the night before, getting to spend the day with your brother before heading to the stadium. It was weird to be there for a concert, having attended numerous games there before. It was cool to see how it was transformed into something almost unrecognizable.

Being there with Travis meant getting to be seated with a great view in a cordoned off section. It also meant Chiefs fans coming close to the barrier to talk to him before the show. Watching your brother trade friendship bracelets with these people was a strange moment, one you never would have imagined happening.

Through all that, there was one bracelet he had that you noticed he wouldn’t trade. Taking a closer glance you see what’s written on it and give him a confused look.

“Travis, what in the world is this?” you ask.

“Friendship bracelet,” he answers simply, dodging your true question.

“Obviously. But why is your number on here? Who is this for?”

He laughs nervously but before you can press it further another fan comes up to say hi. You can’t help but wonder what his plan is for that bracelet, even though you have a pretty good idea who its intended recipient is.

The concert begins and you have a wonderful time, dancing and singing along, Travis just as excited beside you. As it ends, Travis speaks with one of the staff members, looking slightly disappointed but not too bothered. Once again you’re left wondering what that was all about.

It’s a couple weeks later and you’re listening to the latest episode of Travis and Jason’s podcast when they bring up Travis attending the concert. Sure enough, he confirms he was trying to get that bracelet with his number to Taylor, and you have to commend him on his creativity and optimism.

What you don’t expect is for Taylor to find out about that and get in touch with Travis. Now a year later, your brother is in a happy, committed relationship with Taylor Swift. She’s come to family dinners, you’ve been next to her during Chiefs games, and she’s made it so you could come to a number of concerts on her tour. You cannot believe that this has become your life. And you have to give your brother credit for his powers of manifestation.

One afternoon you’re hanging in the living room while Jason records the podcast in the basement. He calls out for you and you go down to see what’s going on.

He hands you a set of headphones so you can hear Travis as well, and fills you in on the topic.

“So,” Jason begins. “Fans are starting to give you credit for Travis and Taylor getting together. Do you think that’s fair to say?”

You laugh for a moment that this is why you’re called to speak on what should be a sports podcast, before answering, “I think that’s fair. I mean, he did the work but I would say my childhood Swiftie obsession planted the seed.”

Travis replies, “You don’t think I would have found out about her on my own?”

“Oh you totally would have. But I got the ball rolling ages ago. Timing is everything, what if you’d been too late?”

“Alright, I’ll give you that. We can say you had a hand in this.”

“So that means you owe me,” you say.

Jason chimes in, “Yea Trav, your turn to manifest for Y/N.”

“You want me to manifest a boyfriend for our little sister?” Travis questions.

“Oh, right, wait, don’t actually do that. I forgot, Y/N’s not allowed to date until she’s forty,” Jason says, leading you to roll your eyes at his overprotectiveness.

“Ok, but if I were to try, who would it be? Y/N, who’s your celebrity crush?” Travis asks.

There’s no way you’re answering that on camera, especially with who the answer actually is. You clench your teeth and lift your eyebrows before cheekily saying, “Oh, no, I cannot answer that on the pod. That’s uhm. That’d be messy.” You then shrug and laugh, trying to play all of this off as a bit.

While Travis tries to dig and get you to answer, it clicks for Jason and he says, “Wait, I think I know who it is. Is it, uhm-”

“Don’t you dare say anything!” you exclaim to shut him up.

“Alright, alright. I won’t spill your secrets.”

“Well at least tell it to me later,” Travis says, to which you reply, “Absolutely not. I’m afraid you may actually try to meddle.”

“Who, me? No way,” he replies only to be met with an unimpressed look from you.

The boys drop the subject and you head back upstairs as they finally talk about football again.

You assume that they’ve moved on, and you’re happy when they don’t bring up your celebrity crush again.

You’re even happier when Jason tells you he’s taking you to the season opener Eagles vs Packers game in Philly. You’re super excited to be able to experience an Eagles game alongside your brother. You’re also glad you can be there for him in case it’s hard for him to watch them play without him for the first time since his retirement.

What you’re unaware of is the plan that Jason and Travis had made behind your back.

“So now you’re on board with trying to set up our little sister?” Jason had questioned during a phone call a couple weeks prior.

“Yes. And I have a way of making it happen,” Travis had answered.

“And you want me to help Y/N meet and potentially date a popstar who happens to be your girlfriend's ex-boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s a Packers fan?”

“Yea, that is the unfortunate part. And you’re not really helping them date. That’s all on them. But you could at least help her meet him at the game.”

“This is ridiculous,” Jason says. “But I’ll do it.”

And that’s how you find yourself walking through the tunnels of the Linc with Jason before the start of the game and bumping into Harry Styles.

“Hello, I’m Harry,” he says cheerfully, holding a hand out for you to shake.

Mustering up all of your chill, you smile in return while reaching out to clasp his hand and say, “I’m Y/N. It’s so nice to meet you, I’m a big fan.”

“Well, thank you for your support,” he says.

“You kids want a picture?” There are few times you want to kill your brother, but him butting in while you’re talking to Harry Styles is definitely one of them.

“That’s alright,” you say, trying not to impose on Harry too much. So you’re surprised when Harry says, “Of course, let’s get a photo!”

You stand next to him, and his arm wraps around your shoulder and you hope your expression doesn’t show how crazy fast your heart is beating while Jason takes the picture.

“It was so nice meeting you both, I’ll see you around!” Harry says as he walks away.

Before Jason can begin to tease you, you say, “Don’t even say a word.”

He listens to you and instead just laughs as you keep walking.

After some quick hellos to the stadium staff, you’re led up to a box.

“I thought we just had seats today?” You question.

“We did. But when I was talking to Mark he said we got upgraded.”

When you step into the box you’re once again surprised by the presence of Harry Styles.

“Okay, we are definitely in the wrong place,” you murmur to your brother.

“Oh good, you guys found us!” Harry says. You look to see who he’s talking to and get shocked to see it’s you and Jason. “There were some open spots so I asked if you two could join us,” he explains.

“Wow, thank you!” You manage to squeak out.

Suddenly you’re realizing what is about to happen. A four minute encounter in the hallway? Easy. An entire three hour football game? There’s no way you make it through without embarrassing yourself.

And yet, halftime comes and you’ve so far managed not to make a fool of yourself. In fact, you’re even impressed by your witty banter as the Eagles and Packers go back and forth taking the lead.

“So, I read about these botanical gardens nearby,” Harry says.

“Longwood?” You ask.

“Yea, have you ever been?”

“A couple times. I went with Jason, Kylie, and the kids earlier this summer. They’re really nice. If you’re thinking about going, I highly recommend.”

“I actually got a couple tickets for the fountain show tomorrow night. I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

Quickly processing that Harry is asking you to hang out with him, possibly go on a date with him, you reply, “I’d love to!”

“Fantastic! I can pick you up in the afternoon?”

“Sounds good to me, thank you.”

You exchange phone numbers and give Harry your address, still in disbelief that all of this is actually happening.

The game resumes, and as the Eagles make their comeback you can’t help but cheer and get wrapped up in the game. And even as Harry’s team starts losing, he still stays happy and continues to joke around with you.

When the game ends and the Eagles fans celebrate, you say to Harry, “I hope this doesn’t affect us hanging out tomorrow.”

“Not a chance, in fact I think that will cheer me up,” he says with a smile.

“Hey Y/N, I’ve gotta go talk to a couple people. You hanging here or coming with me?” Of course, there’s your brother interrupting again. And while you’d rather stay with Harry, you don't really want to be separated from Jason in the post-game chaos. So you say goodbye to Harry with the promise to see him the next day.

On your way back home you put up with the teasing from your brother.

You beg him to be on his best behavior when Harry picks you up the next day.

You know he won’t.

So it’s no surprise that he gives Harry “the talk”, telling him that if he hurts you at all then he’ll have to face two NFL players.

You’re hanging in the living room with Kylie and the kids while this happens, and when the two boys come back Kylie asks,”He wasn’t too scary, was he?”

“No,” Harry replies. “Just scary enough I’d say. Shall we get going?” He addresses this last question to you and you agree, more than happy to get out of the house before Jason takes his big brother role too seriously.

When Harry drives away he lets out a deep breath and you say, “You good?”

“Yea, just- Your brother is scary.”

You start to laugh at the fact that Jason managed to actually shake up Harry Styles. But you decide to help him out by saying, “He seems scary, but it’s mostly all talk. Unless you do something to hurt me. Then you should be scared.”

“Oh I feel so much better,” he says, laughing along now.

The two of you have a wonderful time together at the gardens, especially since Harry manages to somehow fly under the radar. The fountain show is fascinating, and you stand together, Harry’s arm around your waist sending butterflies through your belly.

It’s late when you get home, and he walks you to the door like a gentleman.

When he asks if he can kiss you, of course you say yes. He leans in for a soft kiss before saying goodnight, not leaving until you’ve made it safely inside.

Jason is waiting up for you, and as you tell him about your night you watch his gruff exterior fade away. He looks truly pleased by all you have to report and you’re glad that he seems to approve of Harry.

For the next couple of months, it all goes well. Your relationship with Harry flourishes. You get to see him more than expected since he starts working out of a studio in NYC, only two hours away from where you are.

There is one mild bump in the road, occurring on a Friday evening when Jason and Kylie are supposed to be out at a party with the girls.

You’d been planning on a quiet night home alone. But then Harry had surprised you by showing up at your front door, a bouquet of flowers in hand.

One thing led to another, and before you know it you’re both on the couch. You’re straddling his lap, his hands sliding under your shirt as the two of you make out.

As much as Harry had surprised you, Jason surprises you even more by suddenly coming home and walking right into the living room.

Harry notices him first, and in an effort to save this interaction he pushes you off of him, luckily managing to shift you to the open spot next to him on the couch.

There’s a moment of oppressively awkward silence as Jason stares at the two of you, speechless. Without saying a word he walks to the mud room and grabs the diaper bag that had clearly been left behind earlier.

As he passes through the room to leave he says, “You are adults. Just- don’t be stupid. There are enough kids in this house already.”

Without waiting for a reply he leaves the house. After another moment you and Harry break into nervous laughter.

The mood is pretty much ruined but you still have a nice night watching a movie together. Harry stays with you but has to leave at lunchtime the next day.

That afternoon Jason knocks on your bedroom door, asking if he can talk for a minute.

“Sure, what’s up?” You say, not expecting the conversation that follows.

“I just wanted to ask how things are going between you and Harry,” he says.

“Oh! Good! Yea, things are going well. I really like him,” you answer.

“And you’re being safe?”

“Oh my god, Jason! We are not having this conversation,” you say as your cheeks warm at the implication.

“Well you’re living in my house, I just, you know. I feel responsible for your well being.”

“I’m safe. Very safe. You don’t have to worry.” You hope your words will convince him to drop the topic.

“And you trust him? Cause I mean, he’s a big time Popstar. Bet he’s broken a fair number of hearts before.”

You find yourself needing to defend Harry and ask, “Have you had this conversation with Travis about Taylor?”

“Fair point,” he concedes. “I just don’t want you getting hurt. You’re sure about him?”

“I am.”

“Okay then. That’s what matters. I’m only looking out for you.”

“I know. But Harry and I are happy. I promise.”

With that smoothed over, the next few weeks continue drama free.

And then comes Christmas.

Due to scheduling, Harry had yet to meet Travis. You’ve talked to your brother about him, and you know Travis has talked about all of this with Taylor. So while you’ve been told that it’s no big deal that your boyfriend and your brother’s girlfriend are exes, you’re still a bit nervous for Christmas dinner.

It’s a late meal, since you have to wait for Travis to get there after the Chiefs vs Ravens game, and you spend the afternoon entertaining your nieces and helping prepare the food.

Finally Travis and Taylor arrive, and for a moment you can’t help but feel self conscious. The room is full of NFL players and international pop stars. You excuse yourself to the kitchen for a moment to collect yourself. When you walk back to the living room, Harry greets you with the biggest smile, and those feelings of self doubt melt away. Because those big accomplishments and accolades aren’t what matter to him. What he cares about is how kind you are, how fun and loving you are. He wraps an arm around your shoulders, pressing a kiss to your head and you blush knowing your whole family is watching.

But looking up at them you see nothing but support. Your mom is practically glowing seeing all her children with their significant others, and quickly organizes a family picture.

It takes some time to get all three of the little girls to cooperate, and by the time the photo is taken, dinner is ready.

There is something surreal at seeing Harry and Taylor pass the potatoes or bread basket, never having imagined this is how your life would turn out.

But that night, as you all agree to break the internet by posting the family picture, you know you wouldn’t want it any other way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I wrote the first half of this as the Eagles lost to the Commanders, thus breaking a 10 game win streak soooo that was a bummer.

I wrote the ending after watching the Eagles beat the Cowboys, so at least that turned back around!

I think this may be the silliest thing I’ve ever written.

[hotvintagepoll]

Paul Newman and Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting)—My god, their chemistry. It's iconic. And very very sexy. They're kind of canonically in a throuple in the first one, so that's kind of like playing an actual romance. But also, they're the central relationships of both films and their inexplicable devotion to each other is a key driving force in them. Those blue eyed bastards. I love them.

Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni (Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Marriage Italian Style)—no propaganda submitted

This is round 2 of a mini tournament. Each poll lasts for three days. If you'd like to send additional propaganda supporting your favorite hot couple, you can reblog this post with your propaganda added, send it to my asks, or tag me in it. To vote in all the polls, click here. Happy holidays!

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Redford and Newman:

The following propanda was submitted by the anon who lives in my vents:

[drags self out of the vents reeking of stale gasoline] SO ABOUT THAT NEW MINI POLL.......may i suggest: ROBERT REDFORD and PAUL NEWMAN in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. MY REASONING:

thagt was some of tha gayest shit i've ever seen in my entire life and i'm only 23

but for realsies, that movie was literally a love story between butch n sundance. every single thing they did, they did together

THEY'RE EVEN PERFECT OPPOSITES IN PERSONALITY—butch is the optimistic guy who never shuts up and is less intimidating than he looks; sundance is the pessimistic brooder who looks harmless because he's pretty, but is the most dangerous guy you'll ever meet

AND THEN,,,,,, EVEN WHEN THEY (SPOILERS) HAD THAT THROUPLEY THING GOING ON WITH ETTA IN BOLIVIA, AND ETTA EVENTUALLY WANTED TO LEAVE, SUNDANCE STILL CHOSE TO STAY WITH BUTCH AND DIE RATHER THAN LIVE A SEMI-SAFE LIFE WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!! LIKE!!!!!! GIRL WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!

AND THE FINAL SCENE I—i need to stare at a WALL—

plus the fact that paul newman and robert redford were actually besties irl meant that their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. even when i was A VERY STUPID LITTLE KID and i watched that movie for the first time, i was like ".......so um... are they, like, in love with each other and that lady?"

PLUS THE FACT THAT THE MOVIE WAS DIRECTED BY THE SAME GUY WHO WOULD LATER DIRECT THE STING AND THAT MOVIE WAS JUST AS, IF NOT MORE GAY, I—

O-|-< (← me lying dead on the ground)

THE TRUST, THE INTIMACY, THE BANTER, THE LOYALTY, THE INHERENT HOMOEROTICISM OF DYING SIDE BY SIDE—

they're gay, your honour.

ergo, dear mod, i humbly ask that you consider two of my blorbos for the mini poll bracket <3 if you need more information, literally just dm me or tag me, i'll be hangin' out in the vents 😎🤙🏼 as usual (unless my house explodes into bats)

There was no propaganda submitted for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.

[phacheltheprophetess]

Who Is Keeping An Eye On You!??!? Piles 1-3 Respectfully

Pile One: This is someone who can have self esteem issues. They like how others view you on a high regard and they view you no different. They think you’re so sexy and nearly perfect. This is someone who may romanticize your image a lot. You are a part of this person’s fantasy and I don’t think this is someone who knows you well personally yet. They are in your likes on social media and may have even tipped you cash at work if you’re a service worker. They are dealing with past heart breaks and wanting to move on from their toxic karmic cycles. Thinking of you and watching you is like an escape from this person’s reality.

Pile Two: This person is waiting on the perfect time to approach you because they’re trying their best to avoid a rejection. They want to appear as someone worth giving to & as someone you can trust and see potential in. This person’s reputation and history with other’s does not help their cause when it comes to you and this is why they’re taking their time. They have not been the most honest partner in the past and they’re willing to own up to that reality. They have betrayed people before. This is someone who is ready to mature and have a healthy connection with someone and they see you as a good start on the right path to that.

Pile Three: This is someone you could’ve had past cycles with before. They are currently reminiscing on their cruel behavior towards you. The way they treated you in your moments of vulnerability is eating them up because they are just realizing that they lost someone who trusted them. They have lost someone who was open and honest with them. They are having a hard time holding themselves accountable for their actions so they’re looking to you for more information. They want to see if they’re seeing things differently than what actually happened between you two. They’re looking for signs and reasons to gaslight themselves out of fault or blame

.

.

.

READINGS ARE ALWAYS TIMELESS WHEN YOU SEE IT IS WHEN YOU WERE MEANT TO SEE IT

Picked up on the collective general energy for this reading. Much like every other pick a pile it had no specific audience in mind. So if you felt drawn to this post it was simply meant for you to see 💕

I offer more personalized & concise messages always available via dms and/or email divineempress777@gmail.com

Visual readings on YouTube and Patreon if you would like to join our collective over there as well 🖤

Basic Readings Yes/No Questions

1 y/n question $10

2 y/n questions $15

3 y/n + 20 min reading $30

Advanced Generals

$55 (1hr) $40 (30min)

Love Readings $60 (1hr) $40 (30min)

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[gd-dollopole]

Just wanted to point out how interesting the choice of the directors has been here:

to shift the camera to very specific people when Lancelot makes his speech as to why he wants to serve Arthur as a knight in the episode, “The coming of Arthur” (season 3, episode 12).

When Lancelot says, “Justice” and, “Honour”, the camera immediately shifts to Arthur. That’s what the king stands for. That’s why Lancelot and Gwaine and everyone else, although sceptical, decides to serve their king. For these are his values:

Although Lancelot says that Arthur has thought him to fight for freedom, which is in part true, since he had shown him kindness and strength and mercy, even against the strongest enemy, the moment Lancelot says it, he turns to Merlin:

and the camera shifts to him:

Merlin looks at Lancelot with hope in his eyes, for he sees the future Arthur might bring, for he knows Lancelot understands what this might mean and bring for him and his people too, for those with magic, and Lancelot is more than happy to see it through, and help him along the way, and if that means to serve Arthur, for Merlin to be free, Lancelot is more than willing to accept.

They both know something the others don’t:

Lancelot is serving Merlin too, without saying it, simply because he can’t. To Lancelot, it was Merlin who thought him the value of freedom and courage: “You’re the one Arthur should knight. You’re the bravest of us all, and he doesn’t even know.”

But most importantly and heartbreaking at the same time, it’s the end. Lancelot says, “And all that’s good”,

and the camera shifts to Guinevere:

The choice of words is interesting.

Guinevere is, “all that’s good”. If her and Lancelot has to be like Arthur and Merlin, then they really are, “two sides of the same coin”.

Guinevere is the one who reminded Lancelot to fight, to live better, because he deserves it, because he’s a good man, because he loves her like no one ever did. He was there for Guinevere since the first moment. But it’s also not only referred to Lancelot, isn’t it? After all, Guinevere is more than an attachment to another character.

Once again, Guinevere is all that’s good.

Gwen is what remains of Camelot’s growth.

She is the daughter of a Blacksmith.

She is not only vital for the city, but she was thought to be patient, kind, generous and to be helpful towards those in need. She helped Camelot’s citizens during the siege with Morgana by sharing food that she didn’t have, and she never asked for any later.

She forgave Arthur’s sins and mistakes, although that would have meant a life of perpetual loneliness and worry towards those she loved.

She could have betrayed Arthur and Camelot in a second, if it meant she would have lived, but she had preferred to lose her friend and to stand for what was right.

She fought for Camelot, for her friends, with a sword, with her words, against Agravaine, and even Uther. She never backed down, and by doing so, she was able to help her father, her brother.

Merlin’s loyalty is admirable, but so is Gwen’s.

She is, and always will be, “all that’s good.”

And Lancelot is ready to serve Camelot’s queen, even if he may not be her king. He loved her enough to be able to do that, they respected each other, and that was all they needed.

Lancelot is such a brilliant character.

Not only he shows what he stands for each episode he’s in, but he brings with him everything that he learned in the past episodes too.

I must admit that among each character in the show, Merlin and Arthur included, Lancelot is perhaps the most constant one.

He knows what his values are, and he knows who he has to thank for them.

And it’s bittersweet to know that he died too soon, that he wasn’t able to see, even if small, the actual change Arthur brought to his reign, that he couldn’t be there for Guinevere as a friend when she felt lonely as a queen, to help Merlin with his destiny when he felt hopeless thinking everything he had helped Arthur build may have fallen.

The directors knew what they were doing, and this is one of the many reasons this show attracts me completely.

It may be wrong under so many aspects, but the way the choices for the camera movements, the little facial features, along the dialogues were made, are such an important part of BBC Merlin that makes this TV show stand out amongst the rest, and it has to be appreciated.

[krashlite]

BigB concepts!

as always, design notes under the cut ehehe

Animal: Deer

FACE/HEAD

the lower part of his face/head is a little narrower than the upper part to try and match the head shape of a deer

^^^ same reason for his nose and mouth being lower on his face

that being said, this is a bit of a wonky head shape so I had his hair and beard even out his silhouette a little

his half mustache(?) is meant to look like the lil markings deer typically have around their nose

I gave him some cornrows in the shape of antlers! They're bleached but not toned because I thought the brassier color looked a bit closer to actual antlers (but might mess with them being lighter)

his facial cues are a bit different! He usually only moves one part of his face at a time (so Just his eyes or Just his eyebrows or Just his mouth). His pupils are where most of his expression comes from

similar thing with his ears! Except with his ears being expressive, I thought it would be fun to give him a series of "how?? are you doing that??" traits that are subtle, but definitely there. Most people can't consciously move their ears, but in an animated or cartoonish setting it's not something you notice right away

BODY TYPE

smaller torso, slightly wider abdomen. I wanted him to have smaller limbs in comparison to his body (again for that deer imagery) so him having a liiiittle bit of a tummy hopefully accomplishes this

his joints are a little more exaggerated on his knees, wrists, and ankles (but this isn't seen that often)

much smaller hands in comparison to other characters to try and match hoof proportions

does have a bit of a longer neck but this isn't seen as much

CLOTHES

Business casual except it's been shifted slightly to the left so it's odd, but not off-putting. On paper he has the most normal outfit of the people around him, but he's done it in the most confusing way possible

his button-up has these really poofy sleeves that don't match the size of the shirt so it doesn't bunch up under his vest like you'd expect it to

cookie button!

one of his socks is folded down?? This is something he intentionally did????

he has capris and the zipper? fly? is off-center

his jeans also don't actually have pockets, it's the fake pockets that a lot of women's jeans have

his shoes are shaped in a way that he can do pointe- was originally just going to have him walk on his toes (because hooves are technically toes) but I think this is funnier because when and why did he learn this and how is he able to do it so casually

also at first glance he's wearing dress shoes but they're closer to sandals

his watch isn't a watch at all, it's a compass with clock markings (I may or may not have pulled this from one piece). Someone asks him for directions and he checks the time or they ask for the time and he checks his watch and shrugs

[worldly-fluster]

Had another idea.

LADS boys when...they get a tattoo?? And it's your name????

I'm writing this because well, I have been asking my parents to get my name tattooed on them practically my entire life, they have my siblings names tattooed but not mine, and I'm currently almost 24. It bothers me so much for some reason so yeah.

Sylus, Xavier, Zayne, Rafayel

***lol this looks different because my brain is fried from a panic attack and I wanted to do something simple and fun to let me focus on something lol***

Sylus-

"What is that?"

"it's a tattoo Sweetie."

"but... isn't that my name??"

"yes, yes it is."

"You got my name tattooed..."

"I remembered you saying that you would like to have your name tattooed at some point, so I took that as permission to get one."

"Sylus..."

"Yes?"

"You're gonna make me cry."

"Love you too Sweetheart."

Xavier-

"Xavier?"

"Hm?"

"You have a tattoo?"

"Ah, yeah I got one recently. After you told me you would like to have your name tattooed on someone. I figured since we were partners that it would be okay?"

"Xavier, I meant that I would like a boyfriend or husband to get my name tattooed at some point..."

"Oh..."

"..."

"So does this mean we're getting married?"

"Xav-"

"I need to know your ring size."

"Xavier, No."

"...yes."

Zayne-

"Wait-Zayne is that a tattoo??"

"Yes."

"When did you get a tattoo?"

"A month ago, it still itches so please stop rubbing it."

"...Zayne- that's my name."

"Yes, I knew that since we were kids you always liked the idea of someone getting your name tattooed."

"...Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I was curious on how it felt to get one anyway, I thought I may as well get your name. So you're always with me."

Rafayel-

"Oh, is that a tattoo?"

"I forgot about that actually."

"It looks kinda old...is that my name??"

"uh...I liked the name so much I got it tattooed on me?"

"That's kinda...cool I guess, I always wanted my name tattooed on someone."

"I can get another one, we can style it together and put it over my old one! I needed to get it refreshed anyway."

"Really?"

"Of course! We can get matching tattoos, maybe crabs holding knives, sea urchins with fedoras, dolphins playing basketball, or or, maybe even goldfish doing taxes! Sea lions doing origami, seagulls singing opera..."

[thecloudcrusade]

I'm not quiet about being trans and participating in the fight for trans rights, so let's talk about college.

Being trans, especially non binary, can actually make it harder to get into college. Some schools genuinely don't recognize non binary as an existing gender and will simply deny the student instead of considering how they should improve their systems. Along with that, single-sex or religious schools especially express that they do not want queer/trans students attending, and I've even personally seen schools that actively denounce or oppose being queer as a whole. This makes it significantly harder for the members of the community who are religious to continue their faith in a religious school.

Even if a trans person does get accepted, safety becomes an issue. According to UCLA's website, in a survey of over 27,000 trans adults, 24% said they were harassed, be it verbally, physically, or sexually. That is horrifying. That is over 6,480 people. These people also face high rates of bullying, even from teachers, who are meant to be authority figures and role models.

Let's add to this lovely stew with debt. It's no secret that college is expensive, that's its own problem. On top of that, though, many trans people have to deal with lack of funding from family that may have disowned them, or the worry that they won't be able to afford HRT or surgery in the future to help alleviate dysphoria. That shouldn't have to be a luxury.

But wait, there's more! According to Lambda Legal, many schools don't acknowledge a student's preferred gender identity. They will be placed in the dorms assigned with their sex from birth, made to use locker rooms they aren't comfortable in, and required to use the restroom assigned to their gender at birth. They make it difficult and sometimes impossible to change your gender on your student ID and in their systems, and some don't even use preferred names, leading to deadnaming from teachers and staff, and by extension, fellow students.

Now, of course, things are better than they used to be. But settling for better never made any progress. Think of it like baking. Your first cookies came out way too salty, so you halved the amount you put in. They're less salty now, sure, but it's still too much salt. Don't settle for 'less salty', keep improving your recipe. We shouldn't have to settle for "at least we have more rights than we did in the 50s". Of course we do. We have better medicine, better women's rights, and better computers too! We shouldn't just settle though. We should keep fighting, we should make it so people in the future can look back and say "we're doing much better than how we were doing in the 2020s". Don't just give up because things are "better".

[spaceraceart]

I was looking at your project: geocentric, and I find it really cool! I was wondering if you had more on black holes. A bit terrifying to know the largest and most powerful cosmic entities are all-consuming eyes of darkness. Or maybe I'm just thinking about TON-618/Phoenix A (whichever's biggest lol) because Sagittarius A still looks like a funky dude :)

ooo thank you!! i haven't messed around with black holes in my story too much besides what i have for sagittarius a*, but i can talk some more about them hehe.

as you noted, sagittarius (or sag) is a bit more of a funky/goofy dude, which is a reference to how the actual black hole is fairly dormant! he's not spitting out jets or actively eating anything, he's just kind of sitting there in the middle of the milky way and having a good time.

(more stuff under readmore)

most galaxies will have a central super massive black hole (smbh) , and have some close relationship with them. for some, the smbh might torment their galaxy, especially if theyre super active and constantly blasting out radiation. but for others, like milky way and sag, they may have a romantic relationship. i designed black holes and galaxies around the same time, so their designs are meant to compliment each other. galaxies lack a mouth, whereas black holes are pretty much all mouth. this creates an interesting relationship, with smbhs acting as the mouth of their galaxy, often serving as their voice.

i haven't designed too many stellar-mass black holes, but they'd probably look similar to sag, maybe with less colors and much smaller. below is a stellar black hole (cygnus x-1) that i designed based off of tom cardy's H.S. song heheh. stellar mass black holes come from the most massive of stars dying violently in a supernova. while they often still hold the memories and personality from when they were a star, they get dramatically changed from their new connection to The Void.

at star death, black holes get exposed to The Void, the shadow of The Universe that represents dark matter, dark energy, and all that empty space in space. The Void allows for black holes to gain some sort of higher cosmic understanding of reality. this makes most black holes mysterious, hard to understand beings. The Void also gifts them many cosmic powers, such as the power to manipulate spacetime!

(this mirrors how galaxies and the largest of stars often have a connection to The Universe)

most black holes are able to manipulate their own size, appearing larger or smaller. many black holes are also able to almost teleport through space, either literally teleporting through worm holes of their own making, or traveling over light speeds. they can bend gravity like a limb, pulling and pushing on others around them. overall, scary fellas! super massive black holes will typically have some secondary power unrelated to spacetime manipulation as well, such as sag who can manipulate dreams.

but yeah, thats basically my current ideas for how black holes work. i need to try personifying some of the more "scary" black holes, such as TON-618 and all that, so I can really delve into what makes these things terrifying hehehe. thank you for the ask!

[di-42]

2024 fic roundup

Finally getting round to doing this! Just in time for the end of the year!

Many, many thanks to @curiouspupsicle and @bellisima-writes for tagging me all those weeks ago, ant to @cheeseplants for creating the questions. Enjoy curious's answers here, bellisima's answers here, cheeseplants's answers here.

What fandoms do you write in?

Good Omens, only Good Omens, nothing but Good Omens.

How many words have you published in 2024?

133k. Huh! Me?

What is your greatest achievement this year?

In the context of fandom and fanfiction, being brave enough to put myself out there and share my work is probably my greatest personal achievement. But I'm also quite proud to have plotted an 85k fiction while working 55 hours a week (and being lucky enough to have a husband and friends to spend my free time with).

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

That's an easy one! None of my favourite three are the ones with more engagement, strangely enough!

And I Did, rated E, 85k.

While I know this could have been written much better, I am incredibly proud of this fiction. It's whole season 3 fiction where I managed to pour all my headcanon in a way that hopefully doesn't feel too forced. I think it has an original plot, good side characters and tension. I tried to throw in some humour wherever possible as well. It features Supreme Archangel Aziraphale and Grand Duke of Hell Crowley. They haven't talked for almost two years. The end of the world is approaching. They are on opposite sides. And they both know neither of them was ever going to make a different choice to the one they made.

Only Ever Meant For Someone Else, rated T, 9k.

My first human AU, wheee! It was so much fun to write! I think writing human AUs allows so much freedom, although one shots and shorter stories can be a bit harder than canon compliant short stories. But I had a chance to explore some versions of the characters that I don't really see in canon, but very much enjoy in fictions, and wanted to try my hand at that. And I liked the result! Written for the Scribbling Vaguely Downwards advent calendar.

Every year, the night before Christmas, taxi driver Aziraphale drives passengers to and from the hospital for charity. On the Christmas morning of 2023 he was ready to go home and rest with a cup of tea, a mince pie, and a book after a long night.

Guess who?

“No, you may not!” Barked the other. Then he started pacing up and down the pavement, rambling to himself. “Anathema’s going to kill me. She’s actually going to kill me! She had to go into labour on fucking Christmas day, just my luck!”

Oh, dear.

“In-into labour?”

The stranger stopped pacing and, yet again, looked at Aziraphale sternly. He joined together the tips of his right thumb and forefinger, and punctuated his next words with a gracious movement of his hand.

“Yeah. It means she’s about to give birth.”

“Does it, now.”

Angel! Angel! They're At It Again! rated M, 5k

I really love this little story of mine. I've been told that it made some readers cry and laugh at the same time, and it doesn't get much better than that.

It's the year 2030. The world never ended. Aziraphale and Crowley are living happily and safely together as a married couple. Everything would be well, if it wasn't that lately Aziraphale has been a bit busy. A bit distracted. Now, Crowley can't have that, can he? He seeks the advice of his girlfriends, who unwittingly give him an idea on how to liven up his marriage.

A fluffy story about how we get to a certain cottage.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

Tying up all the loose ends in And I Did. Sometimes it felt like I was just hitting a wall and I couldn't possibly ever go through. I felt so embarrassed -mortified, really- that some people had read the story up to a certain point and I had just to let them down, because I couldn't possibly write anything that would make sense with the rest of the story. Even though the main points were planned from the beginning, there were still all those little details that write themselves, basically, and I had no idea what to do with some of them towards the end. I still don't know how I managed to pull it off, honestly, but somehow I did it in a way that I found satisfying enough.

What have you learned?

That people are so much better than I am. Really. And I don't mean at writing fiction. Well, people are better than me at writing fiction, but that's not what I mean here. The amount of people who are ready to read about someone else's ideas and headcanons with an open mind, enjoy stories that they don't necessarily agree with, is astounding. I have very much to learn from this community.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

I could tell you. But then I would have to erase your memory.

A fiction that has never made it off the ground is a fiction that has yet to make it off the ground.

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

I was asked a couple of times, but due partly to my lack of time, partly to English not being my first language, I had to reluctantly decline. I do offer my thoughts on my betas' fictions, though. One of them hasn't published her work yet, and the other has a fantastic one shot on Ao3, called The Corset.

Aziraphale never understood just why he had been issued with a body likes his. He was the Guardian of the Eastgate, after all! So when in the 17th century corsets for men were fashionable again, he had an idea ...

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

Hah! We both know it's not going to be only three, don't we?

Some of these fics were written before, some long before, 2024, but I only read them this year. It's quite hard to pick my favourites among so much talent and creativity, but I'll do my best. I also can't help but notice that my all time favourites are not among the superpopular ones, so please don't be shy and check them out! (And leave kudos and comments!)

The Beginning Of The End (Again), rated M, 78k.

Season 3 fiction full of plot, great characterisation, humour and pining. It has of course a happy ending. It is beyond me how this fic didn't get more engagement, especially when it first came out, closer to the end of season 2.

The Anon Before Christmas, rated E, 66k.

One of my favourite human AUs. The characterisation is spot on and the slow burn is just absolutely perfect. But I did love the whole array of characters surrounding Crowley and Aziraphale. I love how this story is as much about friendship and chosen family than it is about love and romance.

The Bookseller And The Garden, rated T, 13k.

Canon divergent fiction where Crowley is a demon stationed on earth, Aziraphale is an angel stationed on earth, but they have never met until present day. There's no end of the world in sight, only an angel and a demon falling in love and not knowing how to break it to the other that they're not human. I laughed all the way through.

Wrong Turn, rated T, 37k.

Honestly, I don't know why this fiction touched me so much. I just couldn't stop thinking about it for days after I finished it. It's a post season 1 fiction where Crowley suddenly finds himself in a parallel universe at the time the apocalypse is just about to happen. The Crowley and Aziraphale in that universe have a different history to our Crowley and Aziraphale. All our Crowley wants to do is to go back to his universe and his very own angel, but how? As you follow the main plot and focus on Crowley's thoughts and actions, you'll start slowly feeling the other story get hold of you, and it won't let go until the very end and beyond.

Happiness, More Or Less, rated M, 21k

This human AU moved me so very much I cried. Crowley moves into his new flat in Soho, only to discover the flat in haunted by the ghost of the owner of the bookshop downstairs. I won't tell anything else about the plot other than it does have a very sweet happy ending, and it gets there via a rollercoaster of emotions. This is really one of those fictions that leave me in awe of the fandom's talent and creativity. Read it, read it, read it!

One last one that I haven't finished reading yet, but I know it's one of my all time favourites, is The Last Angel, rated E, 162k.

Canon divergent fiction where Crowley and Aziraphale were never assigned to earth, Armageddon happened and hell won the war. I've said many things about this fiction, among which that I can't believe the writer does this in her spare time and writing is not actually her job, and this is the most Good Omens-y fic I have ever read. It's astoundingly good.

What ideas are percolating for next year?

Watch out for The Angel Horror Show! When I learned that Peter Hinwood, the actor who played Rocky in The Rocky Horror Picture Show didn't have a long career as an actor, bout instead went on to become an antiques dealer, I knew I had to write this fiction with Aziraphale as the actor who many years ago played Angel/Rocky in The Angel Horror Show and subsequent film The Angel Horror Picture Show and is now living a comfortable life as a book and antiques dealer, and Crowley as the actor who played Demon/Frank, and went on to become a successful movie and theatre actor and director. I've just started writing it and I'm extremely excited about it!

Who do you want to thank?

Without the shadow of a doubt @sabine-smitten-obviously and IneffableShortCake who have been so incredibly generous with their time and support in the past 8 months! But also everyone who's ever left me a comment making me feel like my stories were liked, from the long comments to the ones with just enthusiastic syllables, from the incredibly witty ones to the more personal ones, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Tag, answer any Qs that suit and play along!

I think because I'm so late in the game that most of the writers I would usually tag have already been tagged by someone else, but perhaps a few haven't done this yet.

@smua70 @ngk-668 @ineffable-duck7

And anyone who wants to answer!

This was fun!

[epicspheal]

Words Are Unnecessary! A Red Analysis

Picture this: You’re a 90s kid, you got a Gameboy and this new game called Pokemon (or as your parents likely called it, Pokeman). And you get one choice of protagonist, a boy from Pallet Town named Red. 

Game Red is a silent protagonist turned silent NPC, so one may think it might be hard to do a character analysis on him (compared to say his Origins, Pokespe or Anime counterparts). Yet like much of Kanto, Red is a character told through environmental storytelling.

Let’s start with his name, in all official translations his name is Red. The color Red is a primary color which low key represents his role as the protagonist and the top of the Kanto hierarchy. This is most apparent when you compare Blue’s Japanese name Green which is a secondary color (implying he’s the second best of the Kanto trainers). Symbolically the color red represents passion, love, strength, confidence and importance. As time has moved on and TPCi has made Red an important character just as much as a protagonist, we can see that he embodies so much of the symbolism of his namesake color.

He’s described as having a quiet passion and love for Pokemon. He exudes strength and confidence in any game related adaptation and he’s quite possibly the most important trainer in the series. When you consider the fact that originally, Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal were supposed to be the last games in the series you realize that Red’s naming was not just random but meant to be a story of his arc. From your entry into the wonderful world of Pokemon the formidable passionate flame on top of Mt Silver that would serve as your final obstacle. 

Alright so let’s take a look at Red’s team. Now canonically we know he completed the Kanto Pokedex of 151 unique little critters. That’s a huge accomplishment that affords him a vast rotation of Pokemon that most trainers in the world will not have. Yet in his NPC appearances we see that he tends to stick to a certain subset of Pokemon and this actually gives a lot of insight into his character

Like most Pokemon champions he opts for a more balanced team with varied typings. I’m going to focus on his HGSS team since that’s the one that is used the most over generations. We see he has a Pikachu, the three Kanto Starters, Lapras and Snorlax. The first thing that stands out is his use of a (very high leveled) Pikachu in a team of otherwise fully evolved Pokemon. This is of course a reference to Pokemon Yellow, but it also just shows his trust in his Pokemon. The fact that he would still keep one of his Pokemon unevolved due to the Pokemon’s own personal preference shows that Red respects the choices of his Pokemon. He even gives his Pikachu a Light Ball to hold in order to boost the powers of his moves, further showing how much he wants to work with his Pokemon to achieve their ultimate potential rather than deciding for them. 

The three Kanto Starters are a way to not formally canonize which starter he chooses, but they’re also a reference to Pokemon Yellow as all three can be obtained from gifts. The same goes for his Lapras and Espeon (in GSC) which are also obtained as gifts. Snorlax rounds out the team as the Pokemon he gets by waking up with the Pokeflute (the Pokeflute being a gift). So what does this all mean for Red? It shows that despite having caught the entire Kanto Pokedex (including legendaries and mythicals) he ends up prioritizing the Pokemon he got as gifts. This shows a very sentimental side of him. This makes sense when you consider the guide to Pokemon RBG where it shows he wishes to regain his friendship with Blue back after the latter starts being mean. The Kanto journey for Red is as much of a coming of age story as it is a sentimental one as he really wants his best friend back.

Now taking a look at the moves Red chooses for his team we can see he has a varied amount of attacks that helped to hit most types for super-effective damage. A couple of things to note here is that he does seem to have a preference for moves that give status conditions as a secondary effect showing that he tries to open multiple paths to victory in battle. This shows he is calculating and knowledgeable about the moves he uses. For his HGSS Mount Silver battle you’ll notice the Kanto starters all have the three ultimate moves: Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, and Hydro Cannon. This once again symbolizes the high degree of love Red has in his Pokemon. 

However those moves are much like elemental Hyper Beams in that they require a recharge turn. And indeed Red has Giga Impact on his Snorlax which also requires a recharge turn. Not only that he uses moves like Focus Blast which has not the best accuracy. He also uses moves like Flare Blitz and Volt Tackle which give recoil damage. All this to say, Red has a bit of a reckless streak as well. Which checks when you think about how he single-handedly drove Team Rocket out of Kanto, and his actions during the Pokemas Kanto Villain arc. I do want to point out that he has the move Blizzard on three of his Pokemon which is normally a low accuracy move…except in the Hail. Which, what do you know, Mount Silver has Hail (er snow). This shows that while Red can be reckless he also is very smart in taking advantage of his surroundings. 

I’m actually going to jump to his Alola Team because you see aside from levels nothing has really changed except for the moves. Once again he still has some high risk-high reward moves but they’ve been toned down a bit. This actually provides a bit of subtle character growth as we see he’s toning down his reckless streak as he has become an adult. We also see in his moves and items in the battle tree that he varies the strategies he uses against opponents in terms of moves and items used. This is fitting given that this time he’s now known as a Battle Legend. He uses quite a few mega items in the Battle Tree which once again affirm the love and trust he has for his Pokemon.

Now let’s take a look at the few quotes we get from Red

"Hi! Do you like Pokémon? Uh no, I just asked you. Huh? You're strange!" 

"Hi! Thanks for earlier! Pardon? Is it that fun to mimic my every move?" - Talking to CopycatThis is one of the non-Pokemon Masters spoken words we get out of Red from RBGY/FRLG. Here he’s talking to Copy Cat who is…copying every word he says. It’s a funny bit of dialogue that shows despite being a living legend he was still definitely a kid with brutal honesty by calling CopyCat strange. But we get to see he is a polite child as he thanks CopyCat for the TM he get while also still curious as to why CopyCat seems to enjoy mimicking him.

"…?""…?!" -if Red defeats the player in the Pokemon World Tournament In Pokemon Black 2/White 2 When most of us think of Red, we think of the fact that he typically speaks in ellipses. I really liked this set of ellipses from the Pokemon World Tournament as it’s possible for any character to beat the player without forcing a rematch to progress the story. So that means any of the champions can claim victory. In the case of Victory with Red, here he seems to express a bit of shock that he won against Nate/Rosa. This shows a great deal of humility for him because by the time of the second Unova story events, he’s well regarded as a living battle legend.

"...I accept your challenge!" - To Blue before the Pasio Tournament Finals

This was a very touching moment between Red and Blue. Blue was admittedly rashly challenging Red to a battle due to his own insecurities about being a good rival to Red especially given the Pasio format of three on three battles. Normally when Red accepts challenges he does so silently, but here we see him make a verbal acceptance. This is huge because it shows how important Blue is to him. He recognizes Blue still struggles with insecurity in regards to the rivalry and rather than just wordlessly accept a battle, he tells Blue he accepts to show that he acknowledges Blue not just as his best friend, but as his rival. Even when he’s challenged by champions like Leon and Cynthia he is wordless, but with Blue he speaks to affirm the challenge. It speaks volumes about how much Red cares about Blue. Again going back to the RBGY guide book that talks about how Red wants to get his friend back, you can see how Red doesn’t want to lose Blue as a friend again and is willing to verbally affirm Blue, because he recognizes that words of affirmation are a love language to Blue.

"(Blue, Leaf...Let's win this—together!)" - in his head Okay so he didn’t actually speak this out loud but this counts. As they’re preparing for the finals of the Pasio Tournament, you see once again how much Red values his two childhood friends. He doesn’t just want this to be “The Red Show” where he, the living legend, effortlessly takes down the opponents and with all of  the glory going to himself. He wants to win it with the help of his friends. This once again shows how sentimental Red is as a person

"Congratulations! You won!"

This is also major in one of the few times he speaks after losing, but also in front of a large audience. Him verbally congratulating Scottie/Bettie and their team for their win shows a high degree of respect that he has for the rookie trainer to be able to lead a team to victory against him and his closest friends. Considering that (despite what team you use against him) the cutscene shows Rosa, Misty and Brock this is also a way of him showing major respect to the first two gym leaders he ever took on when he began his journey in Kanto years ago. 

"... ... ... ... ... ... Words are unnecessary!"

I remember seeing this “A Day with Sygna Suit Red” the first time and absolutely dying of laughter when these words were uttered. Red was absolutely trolling Flint and Scottie/Bettie at the moment knowing very few would believe them if they said they heard Red speak. It’s nice to see a more playful side of him that also shows why he, Blue and Leaf all get along so well. They’re all little shits. 

Alright I’m going to add a few more quotes from some other characters to give a bit more context to Red’s character

"Red is never satisfied with how strong he is. He's always looking for new ways to grow as a Trainer and bring out the potential of his Pokémon." - Professor Oak

With this quote from Professor Oak, we can see once again how despite how strong Red is he never lets it get to his head. He’s always constantly seeking improvement."With Red, what really stood out to me wasn't that he was strong but that he seemed very gifted as a Trainer." - Brock

Even though it may seem like to some that Red is portrayed as having always been this ultra strong trainer, Brock’s words here show that he had to grow into his strength. Yes he may have had a bit of a knack of battling, but those early victories weren’t flawless. He’s still fallible

"Well, don't go overboard with the tough love, Red." - Blue

To be honest, it was hard to choose a quote from Blue, since he won’t shut up about Red. But I really liked this one from the Neo Champion event. It gives some more fallibility to Red as he doles out tough love to his mentees and Blue cautions him about not overdoing it.  "Winning makes you two happier than anyone, while losing makes you the most frustrated. You're both unbelievably straightforward and earnest when it comes to Pokemon" - Blue, again And more quotes from Blue! Here we see him talking to Leon and comparing the two showing how similar they are on a core level. This comparison highlights Red having a straightforward philosophy when it comes to how he interacts with Pokemon and how he deals with battling. It's simple but as we can see from his results it's been very effective in catapulting to the sheer ability and strength he has.

“He’s been battling nonstop, even cutting back on sleep” - Elio That tough love he dealt to his mentees during the Neo Champion event also extends to himself as he pushes himself extremely hard after his close win against Leon in the Arc-Suit story. This tracks with him disappearing for years on Mount Silver to train after becoming the Kanto Champion. This highlights his drive to improve but also his reckless streak. It also shows just how much he respects Leon’s strength as he’s pushed Red to a limit he’s not used to being pushed to. It's also telling that he picks the three trainers (Elio, Rosa and Ethan) who in the mainline games are shown to be able to defeat his team. Once again highlighting Red's continuous strides for improvement.

Red throughout the years has been a powerful icon of the franchise and is in many ways a symbol for how as the generations pass, GameFreak continues to find new ways to explore the potential of the world of Pokemon. He’s a quiet flame filled with endless passion and a bit of recklessness. But above all he’s filled with love, love for Pokemon, the human friends he’s close to and the thrill of battle.

[trashisstillhere]

You all know about New Ninja, now get ready for….

Newbie creep!

Aka New creep, aka Newbie…. Ya already get it.

This man was not easy to design, even with trying to look for some inspiration on Pinterest and stuff. But hey, he’s done now.

Now while he’s new at the job like New Ninja is with theirs, they’re not really like the ‘new messenger’ who’s going to replace the original creep. Oh nah, og creep is still the main one and still will always the main messenger. Newbie here is actually just more of a trainee, a trainee who’s a big LOSER-

Btw, this guy wasn’t actually my idea originally. I actually got The idea of this guy from @artistic-harlom-world !!! Thanks again for the idea for this loser dude!

I’m sure you’d all like to know a bit more about him, Welp. Here we go.

-like original Creep who was the one to give the mask and Nomicon to many chosen ninjas for many years until Randy, Newbie Creep is the one who gave the mask to New Ninja! Ya see, the mask New Ninja has is actually not the same as Randy’s! It’s a whole brand new mask that the og creep made just in case and Newbie just so happens to be the one picked to give it away along with the Nomicon!

And no, there isn’t a whole new Nomicon too. The ninja Nomicon is still the same exact book that we all know of and love, no worries! Nothing can replace this 800 year old book-

-Newbie’s origins, just like Creeps, is unknown. Tho he is also immortal like him, from the same place too. He even tries having the same fashion sense as him just cuz, though a bit of his clothes, as you can see here, has been ruined. How? Just some small ‘Accidents’, that’s all!

-speaking of small accidents, Newbie creep had them happen quite a lot, they’re the reason why he has those small scars almost all over him in the first place, especially on his fingers! He even tried bandaging himself a bit but it was barely done well. He also tried fixing up a bit of his clothes as you can obviously see with his pants, which just made it look so off compared to the rest of him. His hairs also kinda messy.

-as I already said, he’s a loser. No seriously he literally is. He’s like the complete opposite of the creep. That’s like, the entire point of his character almost. When he’s scared, like for example seeing someone be able to kick an entire wall down and destroyed it completely, he immediately faints right on the spot. If he’s about to be noticed, he quickly flees. With the way he looks right now, many people would probably be very suspicious of him, thinking he’s a man not to be trusted.

-while Randy is more patient and kind with New Ninja during their ninja duties, the creep is a little more stricter and can get a little more easily impatient with Newbie. He often criticises the guy, from his clothes to the way he does his job. (A bit ooc? Idfk) but even if having to deal with his kinda sucky trainee can be a pain in the ass, Creep does actually try to support Newbie! Believe it or not.

Here is Newbie creep with both the og creep and the kid! (May look pretty off since I mostly drew him in my style and plus I didn’t feel like cleaning up and do shading again.) yeah, he’s meant to be just a SLIGHTLY bit shorter then Creep, just a little…..oh and a quick doodle of him and his ‘boss’.

Get it? ‘Clown’-boy? Like cowboy but instead of cow, it’s clown cuz his pants look ridiculous and- okay I’ll stop, I apologise.

Also man, I gotta draw the creep more. I really do.

Anyway that’s it, hope y’all like him I guess!

[room-surprise]

I think it's very possible that some characters might have pierced ears but aren't wearing earrings because they're doing hard physical labor (going into the dungeon). That makes logical sense, and seems like something Kui would do.

So the fact that Otta has them in canon is probably meant to tell us something about her character, and make her stand out.

There's actually one other elf with pierced ears, in Kui's elf race portrait page, and there's also an elf there who has tattoos on their ears!

Since you went off on a tangent, I will too:

I think most likely Kui either doesn't like drawing earrings (maybe thinks they don't look good?), or she's trying to keep her designs as simple as possible (more likely imo), and maybe she wants to keep earrings as a special, extra bit that she only uses occasionally.

It's for sure ahistorical, earrings were very popular for both men and women throughout history until very recently... BUT, people most likely didn't wear their earrings into battle or while they were plowing fields or something. So it's not illogical for most of her characters to not wear them.

Kui doesn't seem to like drawing super complicated clothing, jewelry and locations, even when she draws extremely wealthy characters she tends to keep their designs exceedingly simple and stylized, to the point where they all seem very minimalist and austere.

The coronation of a wealthy king! In his... plain pajamas and bath robe? His high school uniform? His plain tunic and pants?

The third painting is obviously the oldest a lot more simple than the other examples, and the most similar to Kui's coronation, but you can see there's still patterns and complex drapery everywhere. Kui's drawing looks a bit like they're in an empty warehouse 😂 and I don't blame her! But it's a recurring thing... Her backgrounds get more complex as the manga continues, but they're still very austere.

Though obviously I can't say for sure, it seems to me that Kui's description of elven fashion is a bit snarky:

"You can see this by looking at the way their queen dresses." The joke here is that the queen doesn't wear anything, she's practically a nudist at times! Yeah that would explain why they don't like "extravagant decorations" like... pants, or shirts.

I think Kui may be aware that she's made some of her character and setting designs overly simple compared to the grounded realism that most of DM has... historical costumes and settings are almost never this simple but Kui avoids visual complexity.

And so Kui is suggesting that this is because in-universe the elves value minimalism (something that happened in real fashion history so, it's not unreasonable). And since they're the dominant cultural force, logically every other culture is following this trend to some extent... Except the dwarves.

The dwarves are culturally opposite of the elves in almost every way, and so wealthy dwarves (who Kui almost never draws! Phew!) have the most maximalist clothing and culture, full of details and frills:

I 10000% support her in this for the record, but I'd guess this is why there's so little jewelry in Dungeon Meshi in general.

She likes clear, simple costume design without a lot of details... Specifically if she's going to have to draw the character over and over again.

...Except when it comes to feathers, scales and fur, then she will draw in EXCRUCIATING detail. She even went back in the last volume to add MORE fur and feather detail in the book version of the final confrontation.

But that's not surprising, she used to be (still is?) a furry, and furry artists often love rendering texture things like fur and feathers and hate drawing human clothing 😂

cithis gender anon back again with extremely trite info that no-one cares about probably: does any other elf have their nails painted? I can't belive i didn't notice that? (That comic where cithis and flamela and pattadol all go to the warden ... hotpot(?) Shows it- they're a darkish red!)

Gasp

I think that's only when they have modern clothing on, in the adventurer's bible she doesn't have nail polish

None of the characters have nail polish as far as I can tell, another thing I noticed is that earrings are pretty rare too (Cithis only has them in modern clothing too) I only remember Otta and Leed having earrings in the story

I think that's perhaps a character design quirk from Kui tho? Even Lycion who to me reads as someone who would have piercing has none, Cithis got the dangling earrings to help with the celebrity aura here tho, and Benichidori also has some in this extra

Maybe for Kui earrings give an edgier feel?

I WENT ON A TANGENT BUT THE NAIL POLISH IS PRETTY COOL I NEVER NOTICED, I care about all the details, sometimes I wonder whats purposeful characterization and whats personal preference coming from Kui in character design, the earrings one is very interesting cause someone once asked if maybe elves avoided them since they value their pointy ears, but taking every character into consideration nobody really wears them, elf or not. (It's interesting to me cause nail polish and earrings is something I just add to any character without a second thought)

Tbh about nail polish that's probably inconvenient to keep while dungeoneering (maybe earrings too?)

[zeldareference]

MALINK RAHHH!!!! can u guys guess my fav oot ship,.. or my fav oot character,,, bet u cant aha…

anyway lil bonus under the cut :3

cremia doodle!! drew dis mostly cus i js wanted to draw the physical differences between malon n cremia but it looks kinda rough sssso